Incidently, for anyone thats been through the course, what kind of maths do they go into? The standard v=u+at and all those equations i would assume are sensible, as would be a bit of f=ma, drag (which is only a load of factors all stuck together and nothing complicated) and possibly some trig here and there.
Do they go as far as fluid flow theorys, boundary layers in flows and all that jazz? Its not terribly difficult for someone who spent 4 or 5 years doing it but might be a bit hectic for someone who struggled through maths at A-level if its part of the course. Or would they leave that side of things to the aerodynamisists?
Lewy, my GUESS would be that given the climate currently they would only want to take people on if they were 100% sure they were going to pass and a dodgy grade might indicate a problem. Having said that, with the amount of assessments they go through with aptitude, id assume that if you got through the selection phase they wouldnt be worried about whether you can do differential equations and advanced calculus. Id therefore say that instead of necessarily spending a load of money on doing your a level or something again, just practice standard things, addition/subtraction/multiplication/division of big numbers quickly and accurately.
But then i guess maths is only half of it (are pilots allowed calculators on the flight deck?) and the hand eye coordination tests are just as, if not more important as is, indeed, your ability to learn and your flying standard. If you happened to be the best pilot thats ever flown an aircraft, technically perfect etc, im sure they wouldnt be too miffed if you could add 5276 and 46589 together in less than 15 seconds